For New Zealand channel partners, simply reselling technology is no longer enough. Customers are navigating complex technology environments, spanning cloud, AI, cybersecurity, data, and software. They expect channel partners to provide advice, integrate technologies, manage environments, and deliver measurable business value, on top of providing the tech and licenses.

“The partners who will win are those that will work their way from being resellers into advisory and management services with outcome-led engagements,” says Warren Nolan, Senior Vice President of Channel and Strategy at Crayon, a SoftwareOne company.

This shift comes as customers face two competing pressures: keeping technology costs under control while continuing to invest in areas such as AI. As Vikas Bhonsle, Head of Channel APAC at Crayon, a SoftwareOne company, hears from customers across the region: “I have a lot of cost. I need to take cost out. My budgets are not increasing. I still need to innovate. Where will I get the money from?”

For partners, that means helping customers connect decisions around cost, cloud, security, data, and AI rather than treating each as a separate technology purchase.

But often with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), channel partners lack the resources to meet rising customer expectations. About 81% of employers in New Zealand reported experiencing skills shortages in the past year, with gaps in industry expertise (52%) and digital and technology skills (37%) among the critical areas.

While impractical for SMEs to build those capabilities in-house, the strategic move would be to tap a distribution partner like SoftwareOne.

SoftwareOne is a global provider of software and cloud solutions. In October, the combination of Crayon and SoftwareOne will give partners access to more, offering greater scale, deeper expertise, and a stronger global ecosystem without sacrificing the partner-led approach that Crayon’s existing partners have come to know. “The relationship, the people, and the partner-led way of working remain firmly in place,” says Nolan. “The continuity today is an expanded opportunity tomorrow.”

This is the final step in a process that was instigated in July 2025. The transition began in January 2026 and is set to be finalised on 12 October.

The proposition of this transition to New Zealand partners is global expertise through local relationships. Partners can continue working with the people and teams who already have the market-specific knowledge, while drawing on a significantly broader pool of specialists and services behind it. This includes expanded services, such as procurement & IT portfolio management, FinOps, data & AI, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and additional vendor programs.

Greater scale also changes the size and scope of opportunities partners can pursue. Vikas says many partners he meets want access to global markets. With a broader geographic footprint and more resources behind them, New Zealand partners can draw on SoftwareOne to support larger customer engagements, including opportunities that span markets or require expertise beyond their own teams.

Together, Crayon and SoftwareOne have over 20 years of channel expertise, 12,000 employees in 70 countries, and a global network of 12,000 partners. Bhonsle also points to more than 1,000 OEM relationships. For partners, that wider ecosystem can translate into greater access to vendor expertise, enablement, marketing investment, and co-selling opportunities in the region. SoftwareOne also sees an opportunity to help partners build their own cloud and AI solutions and develop IP of their own.

“We are stronger than ever before to support partners’ growth and transformation, and to help them succeed and win more customers,” says Bhonsle. “We will put all our investments in enabling them, in skilling them, in going to market with them, and helping them build solutions.”

Bigger scale, deeper expertise and more ways to grow. Find out what Crayon Channel becoming SoftwareOne means for APAC partners.